Her Soft World
by A. Kline
Summary: A continuous string of Cori drabbles - which are little ficlets. Like, a ton of mini stories set in their own universes - based on A Softer World posts and other various influences. Multiple genres and multiple chapters that will be updated regularly.
1. They're Alive!

Tori's nails scratched the back of her neck while her head was bowed. The ring on her index finger felt cold on her skin, so she pulled away. "Aren't you cold?"

Cat looked up from the grass underneath her fingers. "Nope. It's just super cloudy, but not really cold," she answered softly.

Tori studied her for a moment longer before nodding. Cat had shown up at her doorstep that afternoon with puppy dog eyes and a pleading tone when she asked Tori to come to the park with her. Tori had grabbed her jean jacket and keys before heading out the door, and now there they sat. The slide dug into Tori's back and the grass was damp and soaking into her jeans. The sky was about to open up, but Cat didn't look like she was close to going home.

"Cat," Tori said hesitantly, "Why did you want me to come here with you?"

Cat moved a strand of her red hair behind her ear and looked up at Tori. Her brown eyes were crystal clear; Tori's own brown eyes were clouded and dark with confusion. "I just really wanted to sit at the park today and I didn't want to be alone. I really like spending time with you, Tori. You make me feel calm, and I wanted to feel calm today."

Cat's eyes flickered across Tori's face before dropping down to concentrate back on the grass necklace she was stringing together. Tori's head was cocked to one side and her eyes were fixed on Cat. It was the first quiet moment they had ever shared together, and Tori was starting to realize she treasured it more than any other moment they'd spent in each other's company before. She almost considered it an honor that Cat chose her to spend this moment with. A clap of thunder startled Tori out of her thoughts and she jumped.

Cat laughed at her, which in turn made Tori smile. "Gee, thanks, Cat."

"No problem," Cat answered with her face turned up towards Tori's. Her smile was infectious, and soon Tori didn't really mind that they were just sitting in the grass in a park doing nothing. It's not like she'd had any other plans for that Sunday, anyway.

Eventually, the silence overpowered them. Tori's eyes darkened with the clouds. The park was starting to look less peaceful and more ominous by the minute. "Maybe we should get going," Tori suggested.

Cat lifted her eyes and stared hard at the spring animals in the little kid section of the park. The little dolphin was gently rocking back and forth in the wind while the little robot didn't seem to be moving at all. "I think they can hear us," Cat said softly; honestly.

Tori raised an eyebrow and followed Cat's line of sight. Tori was half-expecting to see other people in the park, but when she only saw the spring animals that kids rode on, she knew she should have known better. Her fingers ran through her hair in thought. "The toy things?"

Cat nodded. Her eyes were focused intently on the statues. "Sometimes I think all of the statues in town are alive." When she turned her head to gauge Tori's reaction, she smiled. "You think I'm crazy, I know. But I think they are. I think they've been alive for a long time, but they've been watching us long enough to know better than to ever move."

Tori's eyes narrowed in thought and surprise. Sure, it was a crazy thought, but it also made perfect sense. Kind of like Cat; kind of crazy, kind of making perfect sense, and kind of one giant contradiction. Tori was still letting that thought sink in when Cat's shoulder nudged her own. "C'mon. It's about to rain."


	2. A Light at the End of the Parking Lot

"I got mugged!" Tori stood in front of Sikowitz's class; her sweatshirt was torn and her purse was nowhere to be seen.

"Was it painful?" Jade called from the back of the classroom.

Tori glared at her before trudging to her seat. "Were you harmed?" Sikowitz asked in what seemed like genuine concern.

Tori plopped down into the chair next to Cat, dejected, and shook her head. "No…but he got off with my PearPhone and house keys," Tori mumbled. "I mean, come on! Who mugs someone in the middle of the day?"

"Someone who goes to bed early?" Cat offered. When Tori shot her a look, Cat shrank back into her seat and furrowed her brows. "Well, at least you weren't just sitting at home again being bored! I bet it was exciting!"

Half of the class snickered and half groaned. Tori just shook her head and plotted ways to show Cat just how _exciting _it had been.

Her plan backfired halfway through, though, when Tori remembered that Cat had a mean right hook.

At least she got some free sympathy out of the deal.


	3. Revenge or Lunch?

"Yeah, I know it's illegal," Cat said with a nod.

Tori raised an eyebrow and eyed the wreckage. Cat beamed in pride. Crazy, reckless pride that Tori sort of admired. "But I know myself better than I know laws," Cat stated. "And not smashing windows was making me sad."

"She's going to kill you," Tori declared, shaking her head. She crossed her arms over her chest and let out a deep sigh. "Jade's going to murder you with her new scissors."

"No, she won't." Cat dropped the hammer she'd borrowed from Sinjin at lunch. "Jade never kills me. I mean, if she did, I'd be dead by now."

"You smashed the windows in her car," Tori stated, speaking slowly as if Cat didn't understand the point.

Cat just smiled at Tori like she were a little child that she was being indulgent with. "And Jade smashed your locker in with a golf club. It was either her car windows or her new scissors, and I think Jade would've been way more upset over that one."

Well, she had her there.


	4. No News is No News

"Whacha doing, Lil' Red?" Andre questioned.

He and Tori watched Cat put down the newspaper as they sat across from her at their regular lunch table. When Cat had picked up that little hobby neither of them knew. "I was reading the newspaper because I heard people put their secrets into here."

Andre adopted a confused expression, but it was nothing compared to Tori's. "What do you mean, Cat?"

"Their top secret secrets," Cat explained. "Duh."

The usual beat of silence that followed one of Cat's comments didn't last long that day. "Classifieds!" Andre exclaimed. "She's talking about the classifieds." He chalked it up to that and proceeded to dive into his burrito. Tori wanted a little more clarification, however.

"Cat, the classifieds aren't people's secrets," Tori explained.

Cat looked up at her with a pout. Her mascara made her eyes look even bigger than usual, and that's when Tori realized she probably shouldn't be staring that hard into Cat's eyes. "Yeah, I know that _now_. But apparently some people put ads for pets in here, too. I really want a puppy."

"You don't need a puppy," Andre said through a mouthful of food. "You'd kill it."

Cat gasped. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're kind of forgetful," Tori chimed in with her lips twisted into a frown.

"You're kind of mean," Cat said sadly. Tori immediately regretted every mean thing she'd ever said to Cat, and she wished horribly that she could take it back so that pout would stop breaking her heart. How did Cat always manage to look like a wounded puppy? Or worse, a wounded Cat.

"But like, this is really sad," Cat said, completely shifting gears and holding up the paper. "There are all of these sad stories in here about sad things that have happened recently."

"That's the news for you." Andre glanced at Cat in sympathy. "I wouldn't recommend reading that anymore."

"I kept reading the article though," Cat explained. "I kept waiting for the end so I could feel better. I thought it would say that the girl was just having a bad dream and that, really, she was okay. But that didn't happen."

Tori figured she felt that article girl's pain when Cat looked up at her with sorrowful eyes and Tori realized there was nothing she could do to make it better.


	5. Warning: Hard Hats are Required!

"Oh, Cat!" Tori called. She followed the streak of bright red down the school hall before turning a corner and finding herself face-to-face with the girl she'd been looking for.

"Hey, Tori," Cat greeted cheerfully.

"Hey, listen," Tori said, "Jade's looking for you. She said something about needing to rehearse for a play."

Cat's eyes dropped to the scarf Tori had on. It was purple and it sparkled under the fluorescent hallway lights. She soon found her hand intertwining itself in the fabric and the message Tori had relayed had soon flown out the window.

Tori let out a laugh that had been heavy in her chest, and she fought off the urge to run her hands through Cat's hair to see if it were really as soft as it looked. "Cat, Jade needs you to go to the black box theatre now."

"Kay, kay," Cat said indifferently. "I just need to call my therapist first."

Tori's forehead creased as she studied Cat. For someone who looked so content in that moment, Tori wondered if she were on the verge of a breakdown of something. Cat's eyes were trained on Tori's scarf, and the more Cat played with the fabric, the closer her tugs brought Tori to her own body. "Why do you need to do that?" Tori finally questioned.

"Because yesterday during the rainstorm I called him and asked him what would happen if the sky fell again. He answered my question with a question - which I totally hate…but he asked me what if I fell in love?"

Tori was a little lost in the conversation, but that was fine by her because Cat's perfume smelled really good that day. It wasn't overpowering, but it was definitely enough to overpower Tori's senses. "Uh huh…"

"I need to tell him that it's definitely not as scary as the sky falling again. He already knows your name, anyway, so it'll be a short conversation. Tell Jade I'm on my way!"


	6. Yellow Diamonds in the Sky

Cat's red hair seemed brighter than a neon light as it flew across her face in the wind. Her sunglasses were Ray Bans with a floral print, and everyone had seemed impressed by that fact; as if Cat didn't always dress nicely. Her smile was radiant as she sat in the backseat of Beck's car next to me. Beck had the top down and Jade was sitting in the front even though both of them _insisted _they weren't dating again. All I knew was that Cat's arms were around me, the Rihanna song that she _loved _was blaring out of the speakers, and the California sun was like a dream. We were heading to the movies, but I can't remember caring much about the movie. I can't even remember what movie we saw, to be honest. But I remember that Cat's nail polish was bright green, her giggles tickled the inside of my ear in the best way possible, and her lip gloss tasted like strawberries when she kissed me in the back of the theatre that night.


	7. Handle With Care

"She doesn't even know I exist."

Jade would have laughed had it not been for the crack in Cat's voice. "That's ridiculous. Did you forget we've all been going to the same school for a year and a half now?"

Cat's hand nervously tugged at her ponytail. She lifted her big eyes to meet Jade's. "I don't mean it like that, Jade. I mean…she sees me everyday, but she talks to me just like everyone else talks to me. There's nothing special there because she doesn't really _see _me. I'm just Cat to her." With a whine and a furrow of her brows, Cat shook her head and dropped her chin again.

Jade had been all ready to throw Cat out of her room after her mother had once again let the little redhead in. She didn't, though. Jade could talk a big game, but when it came to Cat crying…forget it.

"Jesus, Cat," Jade mumbled. She brought her mug of coffee back up to her lips and eyed Cat over the rim. "It's just Vega. Seriously. It's not like she's going to rip your head off or something if you tell her."

"I can't tell her!" Cat shrieked. Jade winced. "Sorry. It's just…I can't tell her. It would change everything."

"Well, yeah. But maybe it would be for the better. I've seen the way she looks at you sometimes, Cat. The way she lets you hang off her whenever and shit. She's the only one who does that."

Cat hugged her stuffed giraffe close to her chest and thought about Jade's words. How wonderful and beautiful they would be if they were true. They were words that sparkled in Cat's mind; twirling and twisting and emitting pretty colors. But they weren't true. They couldn't really be true. "That's sweet," Cat said quietly, "but it doesn't matter. Tori doesn't see me like that. She doesn't know I exist and she never will."

Jade rolled her eyes and let out a deep sigh. It pissed her off when Cat couldn't see how great she really was. It really, really pissed her off. "What if I ask Vega myself? She'd answer me out of fear."

Cat's eyes widened and she laughed in disbelief. "What? No. No, Jade. Tori would so catch on. Besides, I don't like it when you make Tori do stuff out of fear."

Jade dropped the matter for the sake of getting Cat to shut up, but she knew she'd have the two weirdos together by the end of the week. She just had to make a call to a certain annoying brunette later that night.


	8. Fly Away, Now

"Tori?"

"Hm?"

"Tori!"

"Yeah?"

Cat huffed. "Tori?"

"What is it, Cat?" Tori asked in frustration. Her eyes still hadn't lifted from her homework, and her glasses were sliding down her nose.

Cat pouted. She was like a newborn puppy in the sense that she needed attention at regular intervals during the day. Loving attention. Hell, _any _attention. Tori was being a very neglectful girlfriend.

"We can afford no more distractions!" Cat suddenly yelled. With great gusto, Cat clutched at her chest and rolled off the couch with a thump. Tori licked her lips and let out a quiet laugh as she finally looked up from her History book.

"Are you dead?"

"Very." Cat's hands were thrown haphazardly to the sides and her eyes were screwed shut tightly.

Tori cocked her head to the side, eyebrow arching, to study Cat. It was always nice to have such a good view of Cat's body, even when she was playing dead. "Will me taking a study break revive you?"

"Possibly," Cat retorted, dragging out the 'y' as her lips tugged up into a grin.

Studying is for the chiz, anyway. Tori shut her book and, with no finesse whatsoever, rolled off the couch and next to Cat. "Gimme a kiss," Cat commanded. Short, sweet, and to the point. Tori shook her bangs out of her face, and then hovered over Cat with a wide grin.

"Come get one."

"Nope. You're a butthead who ignored me."

"For like ten minutes!" Tori cried through laughter. "You're impossible."

"If I were impossible then I wouldn't exist," Cat retorted. She took advantage of Tori's brief confusion and quickly leaned up to steal a kiss. Cat smiled halfway through the kiss and her stomach erupted into pink butterflies when she felt Tori smile back. Tori needed to see the butterflies that she made Cat feel every time they touched. "Come on," Cat suddenly whispered.

"But-" Tori sputtered. "Kisses?"

"Butterflies," Cat said firmly. She shook her head and stood up.

"Then kisses?" Tori tried.

Cat shook her head and laughed. Her index finger slowly pushed Tori's glasses back up her nose before lacing their fingers together. "Now who's the one who needs love attention, huh? Well, not right now. First we're going to see the butterflies."

Tori followed Cat out of her own front door and narrowed her eyes in thought. "Uh, Cat…it's ten at night."

"Trust me, Tori," Cat insisted as she felt the damp grass under her bare feet, "The butterflies are out in full force right now."


	9. Oh No, Goosebumps!

"I didn't know California got this cold," Cat mumbled quietly. The usual group of friends - minus Jade - was sitting in the back of Beck's father's truck, tailgate down, in the Asphalt Café's parking lot. It was midnight, but the place was still crowded for another one of Jade's interpretive plays.

"We told you to bring a jacket," Andre said while gently knocking Cat's shoulder.

"I told you guys global warming isn't real," she mumbled. Cat could see her breath, and despite how much that made her feel like an angry bull, she was too cold to care. The yellow tank top she was wearing had just seemed so perfect for Jade's play about the sun. Well, the sun was involved. She thought. Maybe not since the sun wasn't even awake.

"My dad might have left a blanket in the cab," Beck suggested. Then he grew somber. "But I'm not sure if you'd want to use that…"

The group wrinkled their noses in disgust.

"Cat, you can use my jacket," Robbie suggested hopefully.

"Yeah, it's a girl's jacket anyway," Rex added.

"I don't like borrowing your stuff, Robbie," Cat stated. "You always make me owe you stuff after."

"Dude," Beck said. "Not cool."

"It's the only way I can get her to hang out with me!" Robbie cried out in defense of himself.

"Hey, guys!" Tori greeted. She came bouncing over to the truck with Trina in tow.

"Hey," the group greeted in unison.

Tori hopped up onto the truck tailgate as Trina ran off to a group of cute boys. Once Tori settled in between Andre and Cat then Cat already started feeling a little warmer.

"Cat, where is your jacket? It's like 30 degrees out here!"

Cat giggled and smiled up at Tori. It made her happy to know that Tori noticed her shirt. No one else had commented on it; that made Cat sad since she'd put so much thought into it.

"I didn't think it would be this cold! But you like my shirt, right?"

Tori's laugh sounded nice; especially since it was coupled with her jacket rolling off her shoulders and into Cat's hands. "I do, yeah. Put this on."

"But-"

"Put it on! You're shivering. I'll be fine. See? Long sleeves." Tori extended her arms in front of her to show Cat her long-sleeved purple shirt.

Cat slipped into Tori's jacket and immediately sighed from the warmth. It felt good. And even better was that it smelled good. Like Tori. Like happiness. "Thanks, Tori," Cat said quietly as she leaned her head onto Tori's shoulder.

Halfway through Jade's play Cat felt Tori shiver. But then she had a really smart idea! Since Tori wouldn't take her jacket back, Cat just wrapped her arms around Tori's waist and kept her warm that way. Cat really liked it, and Tori seemed to like that a whole lot better too.


	10. Please, Please, Please!

Usually Tori gets what she wants. Rarely is it handed to her and frequently is it obtained through hard work; but it's always obtained. Tori always gets what she wants.

Which is why, sitting alone in her room and listening to the Smiths' album Beck lent her, Tori wonders what she did wrong. She fought. She worked. She pleaded. She even asked Jade for help (and got it). So, why, why, _why _did she still not have Cat?

It was as simple as that; and as complicated as anything. And it hurt. It hurt probably more than it should.


	11. Oh Help Me, Help Me

"Oh, she got hit by a bus."

"She uh, met a shark underwater and they didn't get along."

"She was in a skydiving accident. Yeah, I didn't know she skydived either."

"She fell and no one caught her…"

"She ran into a very, very angry unicorn."

"She got fried while tanning. Kind of like French fries, you know?"

"She got run over by Andre's crappy, purple Scion."

"Eaten by a lion!"

"Drowned in a hot tube!"

"Got lost in the desert!"

"Went down in an airplane!"

"Cat!" Tori grabbed said girl's arm in the middle of the Hollywood Arts hallway and pulled her into a corner. Then she threw her arms up in exasperation because, really, what else could she have done? "_Why _are you telling everyone that I died?"

Cat's head dropped, her eyebrows furrowed, and she adopted a patented pout. "I didn't want to have to tell everyone that you just…you just… that you broke up with me! I'm no good at good byes, but I'm out of ways to say you died…Will you please just take me back now?"


	12. Yum, yum

Tori glanced up from the keyboard Andre had just been playing. Cat was eyeing her, so she gave her a smile. "What's up, Cat? Do you not like the song?" The three of them were sitting in Andre's small living room. It was a normal Tuesday afternoon.

"Lil' Red better like the song considering how long I spent on it," Andre mumbled. He bowed his head back over the keyboard across his and Tori's lap and began punching out some more notes. Cat was staring at Tori with a look that mirrored confusion and intrigue.

Tori grew a little nervous, but she kept a smile on her face nonetheless. "Cat…why are you looking at me like that?"

"I just realized something," Cat stated. She was sitting on the chair directly across from Tori. Her hands were folded primly in her lap, and her legs were crossed. Tori nodded slowly and crossed her legs at her ankles. Her suede boots matched the tan carpet in Andre's house. Cat really loved that.

"What did you realize, Cat?" Tori questioned.

"You're edible."

Tori's eyes widened and she suddenly wondered if her perfume was poisonous if ingested.


End file.
